The big winner in the local elections held on June 10th in Romania is the Social Liberal Union. The group came to power in May and is made up of the Social Democratic, National Liberal and Conservative parties. The Social Liberal Union obtained a crushing victory over the former governing body, the Liberal Democratic Party, and acquired most seats of mayor, local and county counselor and county council president. The defeated Liberal Democrats, now in opposition, ranked 2nd, followed by the Party of the People led by Dan Diaconescu, a non-parliamentary group. Co-president of the Social Liberal Union Crin Antonescu has said these results are the merit of Union candidates, but negative votes also counted.

“President Traian Basescu’s image stood on the background of these elections, dominantly I believe. Negative votes were directed against Traian Basescu, as the Liberal Democratic Party is, in popular belief and in reality, the president’s party. On the other hand, the Social Union found viable candidates in most constituencies. Where it didn’t find any, it didn’t win.”

In Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu, an independent candidate with support from the social Liberal Union, earned a second consecutive term as city mayor. Union candidates also obtained clear victories in 5 of Bucharest’s 6 districts. The only notable victory for the Liberal Democrats was in the central Romanian city of Cluj Napoca, where former PM Emil Boc was elected mayor. Local elections are regarded as a major test before the parliamentary elections this coming fall.

Resignations at the head of the Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition group in Romania, followed the elections

The crushing defeat for the Liberal Democrats in local elections has had its repercussions. Party president Emil Boc and the National Standing Bureau have resigned following a low score in the elections. The party obtained less than 20 percent of political votes for the first time since 2004. Boc says the party’s popularity dropped on account of the austerity measures introduced during its term in government, which he claims were justified. Emil Boc:

“Both the party’s president and the National Standing Bureau have decided to resign, opening the door to structures that will validate the new leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party.”

Romanian President Traian Basescu signed into law a bill ratifying the Fiscal Compact and another on storing data obtained and processed by telecom companies

The Romanian President has endorsed the law on ratifying the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, informally known as the Fiscal Compact. According to the document signed on March 2nd in Brussels, a country’s annual structural deficit must not exceed 0.5 percent of its GDP. Countries with government debt levels significantly below 60 percent and with low risks in terms of the long-term sustainability of public finances, can reach a structural deficit of at most 1 percent of the GDP.

Another law endorsed this week by President Traian Basescu is the Law on Handling Data Generated or Processed by Public Electronic Communication Network Providers, also known as the Big Brother Law. The law makes it mandatory for land and mobile telephony, as well as Internet providers, to hold for 6 months certain subscriber data which are to be supplied, on demand, to the national security authorities for the purpose of prevention, investigation and prosecution of serious crime.

The World Bank grants yet another loan to Romania

This week, the World Bank has granted a loan worth 1 billion Euro to Romania. The loan is considered by the Romanian authorities to be an instrument for protecting public finances against unforeseen shocks. The authorities may use the money partially or all at once, or may not resort to these funds at all. Romania is currently under another precautionary agreement with the IMF, worth 3.6 billion Euro, and another one with the European Commission, worth 1.4 billion Euro. These agreements follow the 20 billion Euro financing program which ran between 2009 and 2011.

Inflation reaches a historic minimum

Inflation in Romania has reached a historic minimum, the lowest it has been in 23 years, after the annual rate of inflation fell in April to 1.8%, from 2.4% in March 2012. This data was presented this week at the National Institute of Statistics. National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu said in early May that by 2014 inflation will be kept below its set target, considering that the target will be lowered to 3.2% in late 2012, and to 3% on 2013.

Fierce debates ensue in Bucharest over who will represent the country at the European Council in Brussels

Fierce debates have ensued in Bucharest over Romania’s representation at the European Council in Brussels of June 28th. The question is whether it will be President Traian Basescu or Prime Minister Victor Ponta. The two have not managed to reach any kind of agreement on the issue. The discussions come after Tuesday Parliament passed by consultative vote a statement according to which the Prime Minister should be the one attending the Council. The Parliament gave its opinion after the prime minister publicly expressed doubts regarding the legitimacy of the head of state in representing Romania at all major European forums.